Bad Port or Bad Hardware? (Update: Confirmed slow CPU)

As Nintendo's first high definition console, Wii U will join the neverending, nothing-really-proven debate between the PS3 and the Xbox 360 over which console's visuals for whatever multiplatform game are superior. Some people are convinced it's a bad port, others are convinced it proves inferior hardware.

It doesn't sound like Mass Effect 3 or Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor's Edge are the best candidates to show off the new console's graphical capabilities. 1Up, in its review of Mass Effect 3, said the game "seems a lot less visually stable," than the Xbox 360 version, with choppy frame rate, "rougher" animation and even worse audio in the game's spoken dialogue. (Jason Schreier, in his time with the game so far, hasn't noticed any hardware issues with the Mass Effect 3 visuals. Here's a video of him testing out the game's Wii U features.)

NeoGAF has almost unanimously judged this to be a lazy port courtesy of Electronic Arts, with some expected moaning and groaning about third party development on Nintendo hardware. There may be some question as to how well the Wii U's hardware can handle ports of something developed for another console.

1Up didn't seem to think it was a lazy job. "There was some actual thought put into this port, which is always nice to see," 1Up said in its review, although it was praising the integration of the GamePad and the unique details and features it brings to this game.

IGN says Ninja Gaiden 3 isn't going to win a beauty pageant, either. "Razor's Edge is arguably uglier than its cousins," its review says, citing "bland textures and a bad case of the 'jaggies.'" However, its framerate remains smooth. 1Up said Ninja Gaiden 3 can hang with either the 360 or PS3 "until too many things start happening at once." That reviewer noted some bad frameskip, but it wasn't predictable and its source wasn't easily identifiable.

We're not reviewing either title but we will be providing impressions, with video, of Ninja Gaiden 3 soon. And we'll keep our eyes peeled in our playthroughs. But it's not like this issue is going to be settled based reviews of launch-window ports.

Nintendo’s Wii U is out in the US and with reports coming in that it is struggling in a number of areas, many are claiming its third party games aren’t quite up to the visual standard of their Xbox 360 and PS3 cousins.

That the Wii U struggles to render games (that run perfectly on the Xbox 360 and the PS3) is a worrying trend for Nintendo. In fact, some games currently scheduled for release on the 360, PS3 and PC won’t be heading to the Wii U at all because of the differences in processing power.

One of these titles will be 4A Games’ Metro: Last Light. Chief technical officer, Oles Shishkovtsov, explains why Metro’s sequel won’t be appearing.

“[The] Wii U has a horrible, slow CPU,” said Shishkovtsov to NowGamer.

Even his colleage, Huw Beynon, confirmed there would not be a Wii U version of Metro: Last Light, and couldn't justify the effort required to bring a comparable version to the Wii U.

“We had an early look at it, we thought we could probably do it, but in terms of the impact we would make on the overall quality of the game – potentially to its detriment – we just figured it wasn’t worth pursuing at this time. It’s something we might return to. I really couldn’t make any promises, though.”

Despite Nintendo’s console offering Metro: Last Light new experiences to its players with it dual screens, when asked Benyon was adamant that the Wii U would ever seen Metro: Last Light when asked directly.

“We had an initial look at the Wii U, but given the size of the team and compared to where we were last time, just developing for the Playstation 3 is a significant addition.”

No one KNOWS exactly what the wii U is running so basically this is all specualtion and opinions.

Agreed its not NEW HIGH tech in the Wii U but at the same time nintendo hasnt revealed much spec wise with the pending release i would expect we shall know soon lol

I would have expected a console to at least be able to foot it with current tech.
Cant think of one excuse for muddier texture and unstable frame-rates for ports other than even the GPU aint what we thought it was. Or the memory buss is so crippled its impeding on everything.

CPU still does a lot of work in games....from what i've heard, WiiU has a weaker CPU than 360 and PS3, but better GPU. as mynd highlighted in the OP, things chug with many things on screen. mynd is right in his assessment; something, somewhere, is still a bit iffy. possibly a combination of bad port due to hardware???

It's not clear yet, if they said that the cpu is weak, still doesn't proove anything, if they know it's weaker why wouldn't they give us more info about the cpu? if the game got issues that doesn't mean it's the fault of the system, i blame the devs for not knowing how to do it right

It's not clear yet, if they said that the cpu is weak, still doesn't proove anything, if they know it's weaker why wouldn't they give us more info about the cpu? if the game got issues that doesn't mean it's the fault of the system, i blame the devs for not knowing how to do it right

It's not clear yet, if they said that the cpu is weak, still doesn't proove anything, if they know it's weaker why wouldn't they give us more info about the cpu? if the game got issues that doesn't mean it's the fault of the system, i blame the devs for not knowing how to do it right

if im not mistaken, both GPU and CPU are on the same die, if you read mynd's posts he talks about the system's buses. this could more than cripple a simple "port" from systems they've been optimized for (PS3 & 360).

don't forget however that these are only ports and have not been developed for the Wii U.

Dude how is this "not clear"? It's using a slightly beefed up version of the CPU that the Wii is using.. Which itself is merely an improvement over the Gamecube's original processor.

These are not massive upgrades. Merely incremental.

The Wii U is overall a large step up over the Wii. But if viewed in proper context of what the next few years will bring (in terms of the next Xbox and Playstation) its... A toy. To speak nothing of existing PC hardware.

Nintendo opted to go cheap. Again. Because they were pretty sure they could just coast. Still, its bizarre to me that they'd even try as hard as they did with the memory and GPU and seemingly not give a crap about the CPU.

The Batman and Darksiders 2 reviews from IGN were 90 second clips added to the beginning of existing PS360 reviews stating that the ports had a few control pad features and that the visuals are the same. The original score from both games was unaltered for the Wii U version.

Seriously...many people go on about how bored they are with current gens tech...When the next gen come, Wii U is going to look instantly dated. I'm still waiting to see more on the Aliens: Colonial Marines reviews when they hit. Pitchford has gone on record saying A:CM is graphically superior on Wii U...if any game gets me to bite, it'll be that...but I'm generally not impressed with these initial reviews.

Little over 3 hours. Every single reviewer Ive read has put this down as a major negative. Up to 4 -5 hours if use low power setting which they say is barley tolerable.

I was watching a stream on gametrailers and they said that the wi u controller has a battery flap on the black that you can un do with screws. so maybe Nintendo or someone else will make a better battery to chuck in there sometime?

But realistically, I don't play games for 3 hours at a time, and wouldn't mind putting the controller on a charging dock after every play session

I was watching a stream on gametrailers and they said that the wi u controller has a battery flap on the black that you can un do with screws. so maybe Nintendo or someone else will make a better battery to chuck in there sometime?

But realistically, I don't play games for 3 hours at a time, and wouldn't mind putting the controller on a charging dock after every play session

I am pretty sure that a lot of gamers have gaming sessions longer than three hours. The only option would be to buy many additional controllers.